


you don't need a bodyguard, but you've got me anyway

by fictionalportal



Series: 30 Days of Pride [4]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-09 05:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11098197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalportal/pseuds/fictionalportal
Summary: Prompt from venicimo07 on tumblr:"trini didnt think she was doing anything sweet, but Kim is totally over the moon about Trini's actions, or the one where Trini finally be the one who made Kim into a bumbling mess of a person i love?"In which Trini is a protective sweetheart on multiple occasions and Kim's heart grows three sizes.





	you don't need a bodyguard, but you've got me anyway

Three little things made Kimberly realize that she was in love with Trini.

Sure, they were Power Rangers and they had saved each others lives on a number of occasions, but Kim wasn’t just enamored with Trini’s heroics or her physical strength. Kim usually took cold showers after practice, but she could handle watching Trini fight. She expected Trini to show up to training every day and kick ass while rocking a crop top. What undid her were the surprising little moments when Trini was a little impulsive, unwittingly sweet, and undoubtedly genuine.

***

On Jason’s birthday, the Rangers went out for dinner at his favorite spot. The former-Chili’s-turned-gastropub had the second best burgers in town, he claimed.

“After my own, of course,” he laughed. The team agreed. Jason was a certified grill master, and they respected his opinions on ground beef.

While they were waiting for their food to be brought out, a brawl nearly broke out in the restaurant. The antagonizing force wasn’t an alien invader or some other dangerous new threat to the world. It was Ty Brewer.

When Jason got kicked off the football team, Ty stepped up and became the new star quarterback, and he seemed determined to remind Jason of that fact whenever he got the chance.

“Jason, man, so cool of you to do charity work,” Ty said, gesturing to Jason’s company at the table. He grabbed the back of Kim’s chair and leaned in close to Jason. “Or was community service part of your sentence?”

Kim was visibly seething and looked like she’d been forced to sit between two manspreaders on a three-hour plane ride. Zack started taking off his jacket, a telltale sign that he was about to throw down.

“You know, Ty--” Jason started, but Ty bolted up with a falsetto scream.

“Ahhh! Who the fuck--” He snatched Kim’s napkin off the table and dabbed at his ice water dampened pants.

Trini stifled a laugh in her seat next to Kim, and Ty flared at her. Bullies generally left her alone, and for good reason. When she stood up, it was clear that she was almost a foot shorter than Ty was but at least twice as intimidating.

“Looks like they’re about to give up your table, homeboy,” Trini said.

Ty refused to make eye contact with her. Instead, he looked down at Kim.

“Seriously, Kim? You’re hanging out with these freaks?”

Trini jumped in to answer. “Better than some cheating asshole and his entourage of idiots.”

Ty was stunned silent as a stone.

Trini raised an eyebrow at him and he scrammed, gracefully tripping over his own foot as he left. When Trini sat down again, Kim smiled at her like she was watching the sun rise.

***

Most guys were afraid of Kimberly. She’d punched her ex in the face and knocked his tooth out, all before even becoming a superhero. Between the face punching, getting kicked off the cheerleading squad, and hanging out with a ragtag group of other social outcasts, well, Kimberly wasn’t going to be anyone’s first choice to prom. Except, she hoped, Trini's--they'd been on a few official dates in the past month, and Kim was certainly planning on keeping her around until May.

To Kim and her girlfriend's dismay, guys that wouldn’t have dared talked to a girl in a cheerleading uniform saw Kim's social downfall as their opportunity to pounce. Most of them backed off when Kim suggested with a snarl they schedule a dentist appointment if they intended to keep bothering her. Danny, however, was insufferably persistent.

Danny bragged that he was on the lacrosse team (as the co-manager) and was taking four AP courses (because he was repeating Chemistry and Physics “for fun”) and he had already been accepted to two colleges Early Decision (and had thus legally bound himself to attend two undergraduate institutions in the 2017-2018 school year).

In short, Danny was a mess of misplaced bravado and inflated ego, the combination of which led him to make the mistake of sitting at the Power Rangers’ lunch table for several days in a row.

On Monday, he claimed that he needed Kim’s help with a statistics problem. She reminded him that she was currently sitting comfortably at a B+ in the class while he, as he announced after every test, had a nearly perfect grade.

On Tuesday, he made a new enemy by stealing Zack’s usual seat at Kim’s left and relegating the Black Ranger to awkwardly pulling up a chair at the end of the table.

On Wednesday, Danny once again elbowed his way into their circle. Trini was the second one to arrive at lunch after Kim, who was already stuck with Danny talking her ear off.

“...And I swear, you’ve never really seen the Poconos until you’ve gone in October--”

Trini dropped her tray on the table with a clatter and sat down on Kim’s other side.

“Trini,” Danny said, making no effort to hide his disappointment. "You're here."

“Sorry I’m late,” she spat back. “Hey, Kim, where are the guys?”

“I’m right here,” Danny laughed, devolving into snorting. Sometimes Trini snorted when she laughed, usually because she’d been caught off guard by Zack falling off a chair or Billy blowing up something in the kitchen. It was cute when Trini did it, but Danny clearly had some sinus problems to work out.

Kimberly made the grave mistake of pulling out her phone. “I’ll text Jason.”

Danny’s gaze latched onto the phone like a leech finding flesh. “Hey we should study together sometime. Give me your number.”

“She doesn’t have a phone,” Trini replied, deadpan.

“Haha, good one, Trini," Danny said.

Kimberly didn’t even bother to look up from her screen. “She’s right. Dropped my phone in a lake last week. Jason’s on his way.”

Danny’s voice started cracking as he dropped his already flimsy cool-guy facade. “Seriously?! I can see you texting right now!”

“Bye, Danny,” Trini said flatly. Her tone offered no opening to continue the conversation.

Danny scoffed and grabbed his textbooks. He scuttled away, leaving the girls alone.

Without looking away from her phone, Kimberly brushed her lips on Trini’s cheek. If she’d looked up, she would have seen Jason walk in and noticed that his bright red shirt perfectly matched the color of Trini’s cheeks.

***

“Hey, Kimmy,” Trini said as she stopped Kimberly in the hallway.

Trini had pulled out the nickname six months before on their first date, which they spent mostly fork-battling over a piece of a doughnut. It was the best date Kim had ever been on, and she’d been sure that Trini was going to kiss her when she dropped her off. Instead, Trini had simply spent five minutes fidgeting on the Harts’ front porch building up to ask if she could call her ‘Kimmy.’ Kimberly had answered by grabbing Trini’s jacket collar and pulling her into a kiss. Only a few people knew about their relationship outside of the Rangers, but it was becoming rather obvious to anyone who ever attended biology class with them, walked by them in the hallways, or sat near their table at lunch.

“Got your books.”

Kim narrowed her eyes at the stack of books in Trini’s arms. “How did you get into my locker?”

“You’ve said the combination in your sleep like twenty times.”

“I have this recurring nightmare where my locker will only open if I say the numbers out loud and then I come back and all my stuff's been stolen.”

Trini held one of the textbooks out to Kim. “We’re gonna be late for bio, so let’s talk about your subconscious fear of intimacy later.”

“I really wish you weren’t taking psych...” Kim mumbled, considering the possible meaning of the dream for the first time, and followed Trini down the hallway. “Oh, hang on! I need my notebook.”

Trini touched Kim’s arm. “Don't worry about it. I’ve got paper.”

Kim continued back towards her locker. “And I have a notebook. Plus, I don’t think Mr. Blasina will really care if we’re a couple--”

She dropped her books when she saw the word DYKE staring at her from the door of her locker. Someone had scratched it into the metal and underlined it twice.

“...minutes late.” Kim turned to see Trini clutching her books to her chest and staring at the floor.

“Zack was gonna switch it out while we were in class,” Trini said to the linoleum. “He made me pay him $10.”

The bell went off and the last few stragglers left the hall, leaving them alone in front of Kim’s locker.

“I didn’t want you to see it.” Trini wiped at her cheek with her jacket sleeve.

Kim forgot about the vandalized locker and cupped Trini’s face. She wanted to tell her girlfriend that this wasn’t worth crying about. This douchebag’s shitty sense of humor didn’t deserve a first thought, let alone a second thought. However, Kim couldn’t push the words past the lump in her own throat.

She floundered for a moment, opening and closing her mouth until she gave up on her voice and enveloped Trini in her arms.

Kim only let her go when she heard something being mumbled into her hair.

“What?” Kim managed to choke out.

“I said they got mine, too,” Trini said quietly. “I ran over here when I saw.”

The feeling warming Kim’s chest melted through the lump in her throat. “Trini, look at me.”

Trini continued to memorize the pattern on the white floor tiles.

“Getting my books and hiring a questionably qualified friend to replace my defaced locker door is probably the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. Besides that time you chased creepy Danny off and made it look like Ty peed his pants at Jason's birthday.”

Trini looked up.

“I love you,” Kim said.

A little smile snuck onto Trini’s face. Kim recognized it as the same face Trini had made in the doughnut shop on their first date when she’d let Kim have the last piece despite winning the fork battle.

“I love you,” Kim repeated, nodding. She broke into a grin. “I love you!”

Trini was a combination of elated and baffled, which showed on her face as a slight furrow between her eyebrows. “Weird time to decide that.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“It is!” Trini exclaimed.

Kim rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Trini’s shoulders. “I knew it a long time ago.”

Trini’s hands found Kim’s waist. “And you didn't say anything? So you do have intimacy issues.”

“Trini,” Kim said firmly, “just kiss me.”

***


End file.
